That day, the thought of Jieun's friends filled his mind. 

It was partially due to the fact that the private investigator had told him that there were no recent clues. Is there anyone she'd contact? Or meet up with? Kobayashi had asked him.

Not in Hokkaido, I think. I'm only aware of her acquaintances in Tokyo. An odd silence had ensued after his reply. Are you there, Mr. Kobayashi?

Yes, the man cleared his throat, Just... don't you mean friends, Mr. Kwon?

It was a good question. The truth was Jieun seemed to have many friends, but when you asked her about it, she'd deny it. Not the fact that she knew lots of people. but that they were her friends. So much, in fact, that even Jiyong had adopted her way of refering to them as acquaintances. 

Sometimes even he was inclined to ask her if she considered him a friend. The few times that he had, she'd just rolled her eyes and given him a sarcastic reply.

No, Jiyong, I just flew all the way from Washington D.C. for your birthday because you owe me like five hundred dollars worth of gimbap. 

He smiled just thinking about it, but almost immediately afterwards, frowned, realizing he probably knew the reason why it was so hard to be acknowledged as a friend by her. 

"Jiyong," A female voice snapped him out of his reverie. He looked up and came face to face with Han Taeyeon, a girl who had attended Korea University alongside Jieun, and one of the few classmates she seemed to have kept in touch with.

"Taeyeon," He greeted her, "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine," She waved the question away, "Are you still close with Jieun?"

He would have been taken aback by her bluntness if he hadn't already met her a few times before, instead he smiled, "Yes, of course."

"That wicked girl hasn't been answering me no matter how many times I call or message her," She frowned, "Did she switch phones and not tell me? I swear I'll wring her neck."

"No, no," He cut in before she could get more worked up, "She's out of the country at the moment,"

"So?" She interrupted, "She's always been able to at least respond to my messages when she goes abroad."

"The thing is," He rubbed the back of his neck, "Not even I have been able to contact her. She's sort of... missing."

"What?" Taeyeon said a little too loudly. 

G-Dragon looked around and, spotting a good place, said, "Why don't we go over to that cafe and I'll explain?"

"Yes, let's." She said, concerned. 

When he was done talking, Taeyeon just sat back in her chair, bringing her hands together and thinking. He checked the time. 

"Well, at least she sent you a birthday present," She said, then sat straight, "Seriously, that girl! She should have a